If You Hear Me, Let Me Know

Spitfire and Rainbow Dash lay on the couch in their living room. Rainbow kept her forelegs wrapped gently around Spitfire's back, trying to offer as much comfort as she could. For the thousandth time that day, Rainbow cursed herself for her lack of ability to comfort a pony who needed it, especially her own wife. Then again, she also wasn't sure how justified Spitfire's actions were. She had stood by her at the time, but now it just seemed like Spitfire did more harm than good in denying her parents the opportunity to be a part of her life again.

"Spitfire, do you really think telling your parents off was a good idea?" Rainbow asked. "I know they abandoned you, but is it really worth forcing yourself to suffer more for it?"

Spitfire sighed in Rainbow's embrace. She did miss her parents, more than words could describe. She just wasn't prepared for their sudden arrival.

"No...no it wasn't. I just wish they hadn't taken me by surprise." Spitfire responded. Rainbow gave her a funny look.

"How could they let you know ahead of time that they were coming?" Rainbow asked. Spitfire gave Rainbow a condescending glance.

"The same way your parents do. With a letter."

"Oh...right." Rainbow responded. She nuzzled Spitfire for what seemed to be the thousandth time since the brief reunion with her parents. Spitfire sighed and buried her head into Rainbow's chest.

"What do I do now, Rainbow?" Spitfire asked. "I just told them off, so they're probably headed back to Cloudsdale. Am I going to have another chance to reconcile with them?" Spitfire began to tremble as she felt fresh tears making their way to her eyes. "I've wanted my parents back for the last fifteen years, and I just shoved them back out the door. Did I just ruin my one chance to make things better?"

Rainbow held Spitfire tightly as she began to cry again. Rainbow gently stroked Spitfire's mane, trying to calm her down. She kissed the top of Spitfire's head, eliciting another sigh from the mare.

"My mom always used to shove food in my mouth when I started spouting nonsense. It was her way of telling me to shut up and think reasonably." Rainbow began. Spitfire cocked an eyebrow at Rainbow.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Spitfire asked. Rainbow gave Spitfire a warm smile.

"It means you're being an idiot, Spitfire."

Spitfire turned her head so she could show Rainbow just how unhappy that remark made her. She lifted a hoof to smack Rainbow before Rainbow raised a hoof.

"The food in my mouth also was her way of telling me to shut up and listen so what she was trying to say made some sense."

Spitfire huffed and stamped her hoof back into the couch. She shot Rainbow with a glare that said "You owe me for that." Rainbow grinned.

"I don't owe you crap, Spitfire. Anyway, do you honestly think your parents would make the trip out here expecting everything to go well right away? I'll bet they got here yesterday and are staying at the hotel by the library."

Spitfire thought about that for a moment. Cloudsdale wasn't exactly near Ponyville at the moment. In fact, for two ponies the age of her parents, it was almost a two day flight at it's current point in the drift. It wasn't likely that they were going home anytime soon. Spitfire smiled.

"Then...maybe I could...wait, what? Oh, that little shit!"

Rainbow cocked a quizzical eyebrow as Spitfire jumped to her hooves and galloped to the door.

"Spitfire? Where are you going?"

Spitfire threw the door open.

"Somepony's getting his flank kicked."

Soarin' looked Steel over with an ear to ear grin. Steel had finally accepted Rainbow and Spitfire as family. He never expected to make so much progress in one day. He cast a glance at his liquor cabinet, which was disguised as any other cabinet in the house. He shook his head, but then again allowed his eyes to fall on the cabinet that contained every one of his beloved decanters of scotch, whiskey, and every other alcoholic beverage he celebrated with. He nodded and walked over to the cabinet.

"Hmm...for a first drink...Aha! Here we go!"

Soarin' pulled out two glasses and a decanter of his best whiskey. He tossed the glasses onto his forehead and held the decanter in his mouth. The peculiar balancing act was well practiced, and he made it back to the counter where Steel sat without incident. Steel looked up at Soarin' with a raised eyebrow.

"What's that for?" Steel asked. Soarin' grinned.

"Everypony has to start sometime. Consider it a treat for your progress." Soarin' responded. He then began to pour a small amount of the brown fluid into each glass, slowly to ensure he wouldn't spill even a drop. Steel shrugged.

"Works for me." Steel said. Steel took one of the glasses and raised it to his lips. Before he could take a drink however, a loud crash resounded as the door to the cottage exploded in on the two. Steel and Soarin' spun around to see an enraged Spitfire standing in the doorway.

"Steel, you are too young for that! As for YOU, Soarin'...I hate to make Fluttershy a widow, but everypony has to die sometime." Spitfire growled. Bloodlust dripped from her tongue as she spoke. Steel and Soarin' swallowed, their eyes wide with fear.

"Bucking Mom Sense..." They said in unison.

Scootaloo grunted as light flooded her irises. She hated sleeping in any mattress that wasn't made of clouds, especially hotel beds, but she didn't have any other option at the moment. She rolled out of bed and began a well practiced routine of cracking every joint in her body. The sound it made wasn't all to dissimilar from that of the grand finale of a fireworks show.

"Ugh...I bucking hate those things..." Scootaloo said with a grunt. She yawned as she stepped into the shower. After a quick stretch, sh turned on the hot water nozzle, and in her sleep deprived state, her attempt to turn the cold water nozzle only resulted in unleashing more of the now superheated water onto her. She yelped as she tried to jump out of the shower, only to hit the shower curtain and pull it off the wall with her as she fell. She groaned as she landed on the hard tile floor, now completely entangled by the shower curtain.

"Buuuuuuuuck...I really hate hotels..."

"You and me both! I couldn't get any sleep on that tiny bed! Well, I would have been able to if Jimmy didn't take up the whole bucking thing! You wouldn't believe how much he rolls around in his sleep! I could have sworn he was using me as a drum kit in his dream! Scoot? Scoot, are you listening to me?"

For reasons Scootaloo herself didn't understand, Sweetie Belle's sudden presence didn't surprise her in the least. What surprised her was that her friend was already prepared for the day. She had groomed herself, raised her mane into it's usual liberty spiked mohawk, and it even appeared that she had successfully taken a shower. Scootaloo grunted for what seemed to be the thousandth time that morning.

"Honestly, not so much. What were you saying?"

Sweetie Belle began to ramble on and on about her unpleasant stay in the hotel, seemingly oblivious to Scootaloo's predicament with the shower curtain. Scootaloo quickly became quite irritated as she realized she was far more entangled in the curtain than she had anticipated. She recalled watching a video of a pony named Halterdini get himself out of a straightjacket, and decided to give his method a try. As she rolled around on the floor, she quickly realized that the only thing she was succeeding in was making a foal of herself. She sighed.

"...And then he kicked me in the head! Right in the head! What a dick, right? Scoot, are you going to stop rolling around on the floor in that thing anytime soon? I'm trying to tell a story." Sweetie Belle looked down on Scootaloo with an irritated stare. Scootaloo grunted.

"Maybe you could help me out. That might make things a little quicker." Scootaloo immediately regretted her sarcastic response as Sweetie Belle sighed.

"Fine, fine, but just this once."

As Sweetie Belle finished her sentence, a white aura enveloped her horn and a corner of the shower curtain that was wrapped around Scootaloo. She yanked the curtain with her magic, and Scootaloo sighed as she found herself spinning as the curtain was pulled away from her. When Sweetie had pulled the last of the curtain out from around Scootaloo, Scootaloo found herself about a foot off of the floor. She grunted again as she hit the floor and Sweetie Belle began talking again.

"Ugh...I bucking hate hotels..."

"Mommy, can I have ice cream when we get back home?" Aerial asked as she bounced around Fluttershy. Fluttershy gave Aerial a warm smile.

"Because you were such a big help, of course you can." Fluttershy responded. Aerial hopped and buzzed her wings, allowing her to hover as she squealed with delight.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Thank you, Mommy!"

"You're welcome, Pumpkin." Fluttershy said happily as Aerial bounded towards their cottage. Fluttershy was pleasantly surprised to see Rainbow Dash waiting outside the door. Aerial bounced over to Rainbow with an ear to ear smile.

"Auntie Rainbow Dash! Hi! I helped Mommy take care of the animals! We had soooo much fun! The animals are so cute, I love helping Mommy take care of them! Do you like helping Mommy take care of the animals?"

Rainbow couldn't help but laugh at the filly's energy. It was as if pure joy bubbled out of her with every word she spoke.

"Hey, kiddo! Good to see you too!" Rainbow turned to Fluttershy. "Hey 'Shy! How's it hangin'?"

Fluttershy giggled at Rainbow's childish word choices. Like Pinkie Pie, Rainbow didn't change much since her youth.

"I'm doing wonderful, thank you. What brings you out here?" Fluttershy asked.

"Damage control." Rainbow responded calmly. Fluttershy instantly became worried, especially so as Spitfire walked out of the house with a satisfied grin on her face. Steel was in tow, his head lowered and his ears flat against his head.

"Now Steel, if you even think about touching that stuff again before you're twenty-one, you're going to drink the whole bottle. Every. Last. Drop." Spitfire deliberately matched her steps to her words as she turned to face Steel. "And trust me, after and experience like that, you'll get sick every time you look at whiskey from then on."

Steel swallowed hard and nodded. No more explanation was needed as Aerial bounded up the steps to the cottage.

"Hi, Auntie Spitfire!" Aerial exclaimed. The filly was as cheery as ever. Spitfire chuckled.

"Hey, Aerial! How's it going?"

"It's great, Auntie Spitfire! Were you talking to Daddy?"

Spitfire allowed herself an evil grin.

"You could say that."

"Spitfire? Steel? Soarin? Whiskey? Eeep!" Fluttershy hid behind her mane, eliciting a lighthearted chuckle from Spitfire.

"Don't worry, 'Shy, I took care of your husband." Spitfire said with a friendly wave before her mood soured. "And I didn't kill him. This time..." She added with a growl. Fluttershy squeaked and galloped inside. She squeaked at the scene before her. Soarin' was hanging hog-tied from the ceiling fan by a rope Fluttershy didn't know she had and an empty decanter. Soarin' let out a long sigh.

"Hey, 'Shy. How were the animals?"

"Eeep!"

Scootaloo cracked her neck as she dragged herself through the halls of the rehab center Kat was staying at. Jimmy, Sweetie and Applebloom were all chatting happily as if it were any other day. The damage to the shower had cost her almost two hundred bits, a rather common figure for hotel damages for her.

Just once it would be nice to stay in a hotel and not break anything...and have a cloud bed... Scootaloo thought to herself. Just one good stay is all I'm asking for. It doesn't seem like that much. Wait, that sound...is that...

"Does anypony else hear a manticore mauling a monkey?" Sweetie Belle asked. The rest of the group nodded in agreement. The four ponies each lifted their ears in unison to track the sound's point of origin. After a short search, they found a storage closet. The sounds were louder now, and it was obvious that whatever was inside was enjoying an unnatural feast.

"Get behind me." Jimmy said, and the three mares in the group happily obliged. Sweetie Belle took the opportunity to give his flanks a once over.

"Sweets, how many times have I told you that I can feel you looking?" Jimmy asked. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes.

"Shut up and open the door."

"Your wish is my command, Sweetie Belle." Jimmy said smugly before turning back to the door. He swallowed hard. "Just be careful what you wish for." Jimmy took a fighting stance as he threw the door open with his magic. As Jimmy prepared to bravely give his life to allow his friends to escape from the monkey mauling manticore in the closet, the scent of a deli hit his nostrils. A very good deli at that. When Jimmy looked down, he saw his sister with a sub sandwich shoved halfway into her mouth. She had frozen in her position as she took in the sight before her. After she was able to assess the situation, she shrugged and resumed shoving her sandwich down her throat. The four ponies standing outside the door scrunched their faces in disgust. Sure, Kat always left much to be desired with her table manners, but the sight before them was...mortifying. The amount of half eaten vegetables on the floor around Kat would be almost enough to make a sandwich that could satiate even the most powerful of appetites. Sweetie Belle was the first to regain her wits enough to speak.

"Kat? The buck are you doing in here?"

With a sound that greatly resembled a boulder striking the ground after falling from the top of a Manehatten skyscraper, Kat swallowed the rest of her sandwich.

"What's it look like I'm doing?" Kat asked sarcastically.

"It looks like you put a cherry bomb in a sandwich and ate what was left over." Scootaloo answered honestly. She wouldn't have been surprised in the slightest if that had actually happened.

"I ate the whole thing! Although the cherry bomb thing actually sounds kinda fun..." Kat brought a thoughtful hoof to her chin.

"Okay, before you actually put a cherry bomb in a sandwich, why are you in the closet?" Jimmy asked as he cast a spell on Kat to search her. He had initially created the spell to check her for drugs that she might be hiding, but the prospect of her being in possession of a cherry bomb scared him just as much.

"And where in th' hay is Shepard?" Applebloom asked. It wasn't until Applebloom brought him up that Jimmy, Sweetie and Scootaloo realized that Shepard wasn't present at the moment. They all gave Kitty a look that said "If you two still haven't hooked up yet, we're going to have to smack you."

Kitty rolled her eyes and gave them a look that said "He's my best friend, alright? That would be weird."

"So that means ya won't mind if Ah take him fer a roll in the hay, right?" Applebloom verbally asked with a smug grin. Kitty bit her lip. She decided not to answer that question. She turned to Sweetie Belle just in time to receive a hoof to her face.

"Augh! What in the sphincter hay was that for, Sweets?!"

"I just informed you that if you hadn't hooked up with Shepard I was going to smack you. For that matter, so did you two." Sweetie Belle said as she gestured to Jimmy and Scootaloo. They shrugged and each took a turn smacking Kitty. Kitty groaned as she recovered.

"I hate you guys."

"We love you too, Kat." Jimmy responded. "But seriously, what are you doing in the closet?"

Kitty sighed.

"They won't let me have real food in this place! I just can't eat the crap they serve here! You guys gotta get me out of here! I promise I'll never even look at a bottle of pills again! I can't do this! It's awful here! They made me do that stupid "trust fall" thing! Just because I don't want to try to catch a pony fatter than six of me doesn't mean I deserved to be stuck on cleaning duty all day today! Although it did give me this wonderful closet to eat the subs that Shepard sneaks in here."

"Wait, you're telling me that they had you do a trust fall and you dropped the pony you were supposed to catch?" Scootaloo asked while raising a quizzical eyebrow. Kitty gave an indignant huff.

"It's their own fault! I told them ahead of time that his fat ass was on his own! But they thought I would try to catch him anyway so they still stuck me under him!"

"So, you're saying you told them ahead of time how you would respond, and they ignored you?" Jimmy asked, also with a quizzical eyebrow raised.

"Yup." Kitty responded flatly. The rest of the group shrugged.

"Yeah, it really is their own fault then." Scootaloo said.

"Kat's nothing if not honest." Jimmy noted.

"Yeah, what ya see is what ya get with 'er." Applebloom agreed.

"As emotionally deep as a rain puddle." Sweetie added.

"I'm not sure if you guys are trying to support me or insult me...I'm going to go with insult because that's what a good friend would do in any normal circumstance." Kitty finished.

"Of course we're insulting you! What are friends for, Kat?" Sweetie Belle responded with an ear to ear grin.

"Good point, Sweets." Kat responded. She perked an ear as the sound of hoofsteps reached the group. A warm smile adorned her face as Shepard stepped into view: A smile that everypony around took notice of before she shook it off. Shepard stopped dead in his tracks when he saw his four friends standing between himself and Kitty. In unison, all four of them turned around and gave Shepard an ear to ear grin. They then turned around and gave the same grin to Kitty.

"I know that smile..." Sweetie started. "It's that same stupid smile that Scoot gets whenever she sees Lightning. Could it be that you just lied to us, Kat?"

"NO! I didn't lie!" Kitty responded far more defensively than was necessary.

"You're in love with Shepard!" Sweetie squealed, eliciting a hot blush from Kitty and a laugh from Shepard.

"No I'm not!" Kitty responded just as defensively as before.

"That's not what you said yesterday, Kat." Shepard noted with a condescending stare.

"SHEPARD!" Kitty yelled, her face as red as it had ever been.

"It's not like we can hide it anymore, Kat." Shepard explained. Shepard turned to the rest of the group. "Kat and I are together. We hooked up on the train ride over here. This one was just hoping you guys wouldn't find out." Shepard gestured to Kitty as he gave his explanation. He then walked over to Kitty and planted a kiss on her horn as he sat next to her. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle squealed with delight. Jimmy rested a hoof on Kitty's shoulder. Applebloom, although happy for her friend, sighed and lowered her head.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Kitty. It just means you're growing up." Jimmy explained. Kitty brushed his hoof away.

"Easy for you to say! You're not the one who has a reputation for flying solo!" Kitty snapped back. Shepard rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Kat, the only ponies who see you with that reputation are ponies looking for a drunk mare to take for a ride just so they can get some money and your dignity. Believe me, you're better off this way."

Kitty sighed as she rested her head on Shepard's shoulder.

"You're a pain, you know that?" Kitty stated her question more than she asked.

"And you need a pain to work some maturity into you." Shepard teased, to which Kitty knocked his head against the wall with her magic.

"While that's all well and good, is there any reason we're still talkin' in a closet?" Applebloom asked. It was just then that it had registered with the rest of the group that they never had left the storage closet where Kitty had been annihilating her sandwich.

"Umm, because the monsters won't find us in the closet?" Kitty suggested, eliciting a facehoof from everypony in the group.

"Kat, what are you talking about?" Jimmy asked with an explosive sigh. "I thought you accepted the fact that monsters only live in the Everfree by now."

"I'm not talking about real monsters, jackass! I'm talking about the ponies who work here! They're all fat, ugly, and they enforce rules! It's horrible! Not to mention that they actually respect Prince Blueblood!"

Everypony raised their eyebrows at that statement.

"What in the hay does Prince Blueblood have to do with anything?" Scootaloo asked. Kitty rolled her eyes.

"Didn't you see the obnoxious pictures of him at the entrance? He funds this place so he looks somewhat respectable! And he makes a weekly trip so he can tell us all how lucky we are to have ponies like him in the world! Ugh, he pisses me off so much that I wrote a song about him!" Kitty had to force herself not to shout that particular rant, and she didn't do a great job of keeping quiet. While the four ponies who had come to visit dragged their hooves down their faces, Shepard simply nodded in agreement.

"He is horrible. We got here just in time to watch him do his 'Weekly Checkup'. It was all I could do to avoid shoving a bass down his throat. And the song Kat wrote is also pretty awesome. And we better write it as soon as Kat gets out of here."

"Can't you just bust me out of here?!" Kitty pleaded. "I promise, I'll throw away every bottle of pills that I have! No, I'll burn them all! Please, just let me out of here! I'm begging you, get me out of this place!" Kitty dropped to her knees as she pleaded. Scootaloo, Jimmy, Sweetie, and Applebloom all looked at Shepard. Shepard sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Kat. But you're just not ready to go home yet. You've been having withdrawals ever since you came here. The nurses say-"

"To Discord with the bucking nurses!" Kitty shouted back. "What in the hay do they know about drug problems! I don't have a problem, I never did! It's the rest of these crazy ponies here have-"

"Kat, the last time we had this conversation was right after you DIED!" Jimmy shouted back. Kitty immediately shrunk under Jimmy's words. She didn't have an argument for that. Jimmy sighed and rested his hoof on her shoulder.

"Kat, we just want to get you the help you need." Jimmy lifted his sister's chin with his hoof. "Help that even you know you need."

Kitty sighed. She gave her brother a brief hug and pulled away. She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye at the moment.

"You're right...I'm sorry, Jimmy."

Jimmy smiled down at his sister.

"It's alright, Kat. You know I love you. We all do."

Kitty looked up at each of her friends. An ear to ear grin crossed her features.

"Yeah, I love you guys too. After I get out of here, we're gonna go to the nearest bar and get completely wasted, just like always! Even Scoot can join in! Alright?"

Everypony shrugged.

"Works for me." Jimmy responded.

"I can handle that." Sweetie Belle added.

"I think I can let loose for once." Scootaloo said with a nod.

"As long as we have drunk sex I'm game." Shepard added with a wink.

"Ah better be able to have some cider while we're out. Jus' wouldn't be th' same without apple somethin'." Applebloom finished.

"It's settled then! As soon a I'm outta rehab, we're gonna celebrate with booze! Awww yeah!" Kat exclaimed while throwing her hooves into the air.

Scootaloo facehoofed.

I have the most bucked up friends ever... she thought to herself.